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Tag: corinthians

  • Tribulation? Cheer up.

    Tribulation? Cheer up.

    2017: Keep on for Christ’s sake.

    I’m not invoking a phrase of cursing here, rather I call on the saints who hold fast to Jesus Christ to continue in faith. This is no new calling out in times of difficulty or anticipated times of trouble. We anticipate tribulation in the world.

    Solomon may have come up with this calming wisdom for some new year [about 2900 years ago]:

    History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. – Ecclesiastes 1:9 NLT

    We begin this new year of expectant change by those with troubling temperaments leading us into the unknown. Certainly Rome ruled with a harsh hand. When the Messiah Jesus knew that His drama of suffering was imminent, the Lord offered true hope to His followers.

    John 16:

    “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away…

    Jesus is not speaking to non-believers here, but to those followers, saints of the church. In fact, our Lord adds a vaguely familiar motive for these troubles ahead.

    Christians hung in Egypt 2015“… Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

    The world sees and overlooks routine persecution in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and in the slums of our rich cities. (Nothing new under the sun.)

    [ctt title=”The world remotely headlines the very sufferings, persecution, expulsion and genocide of many who refuse to bow down to idol false gods and violent dead prophets.” tweet=”We pray for persecuted Christians, Jews and Muslims of the wrong sect in places controlled by hopeless men.” coverup=”2IbK7″]

    Tribulation Defined

    1,000,000+ victims
    South Sudan Nov. 2015

    Oxford defines tribulation (usually tribulations) as: 1 A cause of great trouble or suffering or 1.1 A state of great trouble or suffering.

    A look into the Greek root of Jesus’ word used here is more revealing.

    θλῖψις [thlipsis] – 

    1. a pressing, pressing together, pressure

    2. metaph. oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits

    refugees driven from their cities in Syria & Iraq

    Photos of war and refugees define our present pressing in of evil. Distant news reveals affliction all too well, therefore the world’s loss of hope leads us to believe we cannot have peace – ever.

    Think about it: Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, offends those who deny God and perpetrate evil.

    [ctt title=”Followers of causes opposed to the LORD most often claim false gods, false traditions and false men offering false hope.” tweet=”GOD offends the godless!” coverup=”IbtST”]

    Life’s evils do and will again repeat themselves.

    “But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

    – John 16:4”

    Tribulations define a pressing in of sin by a fallen world opposed to God.

    • When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. – Deuteronomy 4:20
    • “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. – Matthew 24:9 

    Yes, Jesus, the incarnate Messiah of the LORD God, is hated by all nations, because the world hates the LORD. Tribulations for Christians and others will continue in the 21st century, as in the 20th and the first centuries. History of the church reveals the truth of Jesus’ warnings to followers. We do not have to look far to see those who refuse the Holy Spirit of the LORD God.

    Acts 14:19-22

    … they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city… they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples.

    … encouraging them to continue in the faith,

    and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

    The Pressing In

    As we anticipate the inevitable tribulation of this upcoming year, Christians would do well to heed the cheery advice of our Lord. Jesus has overcome the world and its troubles; therefore in Him we can have peace in our hearts.

    We have Gospel good news! God came to man in His own Perfect Image as a living perfect sacrifice for our sins. After Jesus returned to God the Father He sent the Holy Spirit of God to be with those who love the LORD.

    8 And when he [the Helper] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

    Christians and non-christians alike experience sin pressing in. Judgment, therefore, awaits every living soul and each deceased failed body of mortal flesh.

    20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy…

    … but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

    29 His disciples said… “Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”

    31 Jesus answered them..

    [And the Lord answers us as we anticipate with some trepidation of the year to come.]

    “Do you now believe?

    32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered…

    33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

    In the world you will have tribulation.

    But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

    Welcome 2017

    2 Corinthians 1: NKJV

    To the church of God… with all the saints…

    2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

    4 who comforts us in all our tribulation,

    that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble,

    with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

    5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

    Beloved believer, cheer up; for Christ our saving hope from tribulation, from death and from judgment returns for those who love the Lord – for the chosen ones, saints for all time, this year and forever.

    Amen.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Resurrection: So What?

    Resurrection: So What?

    Do you believe in Jesus’ Resurrection?

    Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

    It was her own brother who had just died..

    Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

    Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

    John 11:24-26

    Do you believe this?

    Do you believe that Easter is a celebration of life like no other?

    Lots of talk about resurrection; some even call it ‘Resurrection Day.’

    ‘So What’ skeptics of Christ’s Resurrection

    As a kids we easily turned a phrase for things of which we were skeptical. My quick answer to a parent or someone in authority: “So what?”

    What answer quickly rolls off my tongue? What reactive thought tumbles around in my head about things I choose not to think about?

    “So what?”

    As one finally bowed down before Almighty God who calls Christ Jesus my Lord, I contrinued to be a little surprised by the ‘so what’ look of so many wandering souls I encounter in my everyday mortal life.

    Their non-consideration of Easter and frequent rebellion at even a mention of the name of Jesus affirms their ‘so what,’ as common era reaction to faint hope that the resurrection of Jesus is real.

    These with hearts hardened to God will always turn against any hope that Christ’s cross and the resurrection are most real and relevant answers to sin. Judgment for sin and punishment of a second death are the furthest thoughts removed from the flesh of self-worshiping humanists.

    Jesus was rejected and crucified by a religious establishment that made up their own rules about God. Jesus came to a world that did not seek God. Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came as a sacrifice for our sin. And Jesus is resurrected from the grave, because He IS the LORD God! He came to man to show us the mercy required to save us from death with the grace of reward for eternal life we do not deserve.

    for Church members:

    Recall of a church? WHY do that? SO WHAT IF WE preach what WE want? Pictured Medieval church bell tower during sundown in valley
    The photo to the left & cover photo have been added to the original post along with some minor edits, including this question below from our earlier series on Doctrine of the Church.

    SO WHAT if we do NOT insist that JESUS is the ONLY way of eternal life because of the Cross?

    Gentle believer, fellow saint of Christ’s own body,

    Our own sacrifice is small and our reward great for our touching of hearts with the healing love of Christ Jesus. Sure, the world says of the resurrection, ‘so what?’

    Yet even in these last days of evil we have hope in the resurrection to share with others who also never believed that Jesus would die for them.

    As long ago as the first century and first generation of witness of the gospel, men were still evil. Yet the letters of the Apostles spoke to the Jew and the nations alike, all who would listen about the Messiah Jesus.

    1 Corinthians 15:

    Paul lived in Corinth for a time and wrote of the resurrection to the church, encouraging us in Christ. HERE is his answer to the so what skeptics and listeners in the public arenas of hostile crowds:

    12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

    13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

    14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

    Mention Jesus Christ and you get a tough crowd, don’t you? And most with their face against God show you that ‘so what’ look.

    It was no different in Corinth when Paul taught the gospel to the church there in person or by letter.

    Commentary on a ‘so what’ culture of Corinth

    John MacArthur gives us this background: 

    Even by the pagan standards of its own culture, Corinth became so morally corrupt that its very name became synonymous with debauchery and moral depravity. To “corinthianize” came to represent gross immorality and drunken debauchery… Like most ancient Greek cities, Corinth had an acropolis (literally. “a high city”), which rose 2,000 feet and was used both for defense and for worship. The most prominent edifice on the acropolis was a temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Some 1,000 priestesses, who were “religious” prostitutes, lived and worked there and came down into the city in the evening to offer their services to male citizens and foreign visitors.

    • CAN YOU THINK OF A 21ST Century of the Common Era CITY LIKE THAT?
    • CAN YOU THINK OF A TEMPLE TO GLORIFY US & our gods?
    • ARE THE CITIZENS AND VISITORS OF OUR BEST CITIES LIKE CORINTH?

    Yet Paul preached to the church in Corinth (and all the other believers) about the resurrection:

    17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

    If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

    1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV
    SO WHAT? they say, but IF WE ARE RIGHT..

    Are you like those without hope in the resurrection?

    Does your earth-friendly, Christian-persecuting community “corinthianize” the pulpits of truth with compromises of false faith?

    Roger@TalkofJESUS.com +

    Guard against it, as Paul warned.

    For we have Christ crucified, died and resurrected. We hold to certain hope of eternal life in worship of God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of the new heavens and the new earth without sin.

    Christ has been raised from the dead!

    20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep..

    26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death…

    The only ‘so what’ question

    Are you looking to your own resurrection?

    Do you share the Good News of Christ’s resurrection with others?

    Do you even Talk of JESUS to anyone — even others in your gatherings ‘at church?’

    “Who was Jesus?” they may ask; for the world hears little of our Lord in these last days.

    This might be the only ‘so what’ question you ever get from your unbelieving friend or loved one. Jesus rose from the dead! Over five hundred witnesses. Furthermore, Jesus promised He will return for you and me, if you would like to have him as your Lord too.

    Here's how Paul continued with the Good News of Jesus' resurrection to Corinthians of the 1st century:

    35 But someone will ask,

    “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

    36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

    38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body…

    42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable;

    what is raised is imperishable.

    43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

    I know resurrection is a lot to think about. Has a lot more to do with your body and soul than bunnies and eggs. Jesus has a lot to say about it. You should read one of the gospels about Jesus. 

    (John, for instance, tells us a lot about why God sent Jesus to the world.)

    50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

    51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

    53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

    54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

    “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
    “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

    56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

    But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

  • until he brings justice to victory

    until he brings justice to victory

    The death of justice occurred not a week ago, but in centuries past.

    Justice..

    such a noble ideal. Yet what is justice, but a separation of evil from good?

    This world and this country, the unseen victims of our streets and countless peoples fleeing violence are destined to suffer injustice since the fall of man (adam). Why should it surprise us that a crisis of justice once more brings darkness to a people with failing light?

    global debtThe law of the land is no longer just. The nation of hope is no longer light to the nations. Those once free are sold to our debt and the lords of the land lend by usury.

    Psalm 89:14 KJV

    Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

    The LORD is higher than the laws of the nations.

    His justice hears the appeals of the downtrodden,

    His judgment is feared by the judges of injustice.

    He will make right wickedness done to the poor.

    RH

    Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Psalm 82:3

    Trump on borderDare we build yet higher walls between billionaires and the penniless? Do millions of poor not gamble their futile futures in towers of sin built by the greed of a handful of arrogant rich?

    Can a nation be bought or a people negotiated?

    _87097692_syria_rebel_control_624_v4Where is justice in the lands from which millions flee for their lives?

    Where is justice for the unwanted child? Where is justice for victims fleeing from war?

    The perversion of justice is not a new thing under the sun.

    Isaiah 59:

    Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
    or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
    2 but your iniquities have made a separation
    between you and your God,
    and your sins have hidden his face from you
    so that he does not hear.

    baby 17 week fetus3 For your hands are defiled with blood
    and your fingers with iniquity;
    your lips have spoken lies;
    your tongue mutters wickedness.
    4 No one enters suit justly;
    no one goes to law honestly;
    they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
    they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

    Why this sounds like the accusations of a political race with rumblings of iniquity heard all over the world. Yet the prophet Isaiah wrote this in the 8th century Before Christ.

    … Their works are works of iniquity,
    and deeds of violence are in their hands.
    7 Their feet run to evil,
    and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
    their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
    desolation and destruction are in their highways.

    kerry putin8 The way of peace they do not know,
    and there is no justice in their paths;
    they have made their roads crooked;
    no one who treads on them knows peace.

    Judgment and Redemption

    14 Justice is turned back,
    and righteousness stands far away;
    for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
    and uprightness cannot enter.

    15 Truth is lacking,
    and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
    The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
    that there was no justice.

    +

    The short terms of political power and temporal rulings of Justices, powerless before the Throne of Judgment, will not prevail in this age any more than in forgotten times of fallen empires with nameless leaders, mortals whose legacy is dust and whose souls will be called to account at the victory of Christ, when soon the Lord will return in power upon the clouds.

    On a Cross in Jerusalem the Righteous One was crucified for our sins. Christ Jesus offered us mercy for the wickedness of our hearts and deeds of our sins.

    Even the Prophet Isaiah looked forward to a time of Jesus Christ:

     “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. – Isaiah 59:20

    1 Corinthians 15:54-57 KJV

    So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,

    and this mortal shall have put on immortality,

    then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,

    Death is swallowed up in victory.

    O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

    The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

    But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.